Shehnaaz Gill spoke about her childhood in a new interview. (Photo: Shehnaaz Gill/Instagram)recalled running away from home as a child to pursue her dreams in the entertainment industry. She said that she was basically estranged from them for several years, and reconnected with her folks only after she became famous.
In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, she said that her family wasn’t entirely supportive of her decision to join the film industry, but she didn’t pay any heed to their warnings. She said that even though she loves her parents, she doesn’t really listen to their opinions about work.
“My dreams are my own, and I will do whatever it takes to realise them,” she said in Hindi. Asked what lengths she had to go to, she added, “I ran away from home. They couldn’t locate me. I returned only when I became famous.”
Shehnaaz said that this happened when she was around 22 or 23. “I was making around Rs 15000, living in a PG, I would go for shoots regularly. They’d keep calling me, but I’d put the phone numbers of my family on a blocked list, even though I was very attached to my grandmother. I wanted to prove myself before talking to them. But patience pays off. And now, they’re all proud of me.”
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Shehnaaz said that she was ‘a child’ when she ran away, and that she crossed paths with many unsavoury people during that time. “I made a lot of mistakes, because I didn’t know any better, but I kept ploughing on,” she said, admitting that she knew when she was being taken for a ride by people who didn’t care for her. But she’d forgive them and move on, she said. Her bad experiences taught her to prioritise herself, and to choose who she associates herself with.
Shehnaaz rose to fame as a contestant on Bigg Boss, and later for her rumoured relationship with late actor Sidharth Shukla. Last year, she appeared in the Punjabi film Honsla Rakh, opposite Diljit Dosanjh.